Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Only a few more hours...

It is the night before we leave for Israel with our 8th graders and I am so excited to be traveling with such an amazing group of students and staff. Each time I prepare for a trip to Israel, I am still amazed at how it comes together and the excitement that it generates for me, as even though my trips follow a similar pattern, there is nothing like feeling the plane land in Israel after a long flight and feeling that I am visiting an old friend.

The real magic of our school trips to Israel though, are in the eyes of our children. Whether students have been to Israel before or not becomes a non-issue as they gather their belongings and make their way into Ben Gurion Airport, exhausted from our travels, but exhilarated with anticipation, excitement and pure joy.

For the parents of our 8th graders, this is a milestone event. Some kids are away from home for the first time; others have been away before, but never this far; and for everyone, this is a jewel in the crown of their day school education. As educators, we have the privilege of being there when the kids make connections to the material they have been studying in Tanakh and when we see glimpses of independent growth in each child as they take on traveling without their parents and gaining confidence in who they are and who they have become.

Perhaps most important though, is that we are doing it together, as a Kehillah, a community. While I wish you could all join us on this trip, it just isn't possible. But I do hope that you will travel with us virtually through blog postings right here and by watching our daily videos.

Israel is always an incredible place, but how much more so when we have the privilege of bringing our students, our children together to walk the land, breathe the air and take in everything that it has to offer.

Have a wonderful trip 8th grade. Go in peace and return in peace. Learn, visit in the land from North to South, feel the holiness, have fun, and breathe the air of the land of Israel (which the Talmud says makes one wise). See you when you return.

What a send off! The entire school brings good wishes to the 8th grade. I didn't think that I would cry, but after seeing the younger grades walking in with teachers that Eli (and Jacob '07) had thoughout his 9 years (k-8) and our total of 15 years at Schechter, it hit me! This is it! Thank you KSA for supporting our kids, bring communities together, and making us proud to be parents of KSA! SHALOM!